We all know that it is not safe to drive on a foggy road, but what if you are in the middle of the road when suddenly it becomes foggy. You need reliable fog lights to help you drive safely at night under this condition.
Fog is a cloud formed on the earth’s surface. It has tiny droplets or ice particles that are produced when the temperature falls. Under foggy weather, driving carefully, using wipers and windshields, and focusing on the road is not enough. You need to have proper lighting to see the road clearly as you drive.
Yellow and white are the two popular colors of fog lights. Which do you think will provide the brightness you require when driving in a foggy condition at night? Read and find out which is the perfect fog lights color for your vehicle.
Purpose of Using Fog Lights
Fog lights are the type of car light that boost road visibility in foggy conditions. Some are questioning its importance, as it is seldom used. For others, it is vital in situations where there is poor visibility because of environmental factors.
It is not only in foggy weather that the lights work. You can also depend on it during sandstorms, mist, and dust, where you require proper lighting while driving. Some think that headlights are enough. Yes, it can help you, but its light tends to refract and hit back to the car.
On the other hand, the fog lights have a bar-shaped beam, and their position enables them to hit the ground at a sharp angle. Thus, it prevents the light from reflecting off the mist and maintains visibility during challenging conditions.
Usually, fog lamps are set low, below the headlights, to provide its purpose of lighting up during dusty or foggy conditions. Sometimes, it adds to the looks of the car and takes the shape of the frontal bumper.
Fog lights warn the other drivers of your presence on the road. During cloudy conditions, visibility is low, particularly at night. The headlights are not strong enough to notify other road users you are on the road, resulting in an accident. You have to keep in mind that this type of light has a lower reach than headlights but provides better light to brighten the road ahead.
You must choose the right type of light. Decide based on the temperature. The lower the temp, the warmer the color it will be. Yellow fog lights are somewhere between 2000 to 3000 Kelvin, while white fog lights are around 6000 Kelvins.
What You Need to Know About Yellow Lights
For many years, headlights had a yellow tint. The first headlights were powered by acetylene lamps and produced yellow lights. Today’s headlights have better yellow lights.
In 1930, yellow lights were used in headlights. They were designed to filter out the blue tones and produce a yellower light. Many drivers prefer yellow light since it dazzles less, which makes sit a safe color for headlights. The color can cuts through not just in fog but also through the snow and rain better than blue or white light.
Despite the popularity of yellow headlights, some countries still produce more white lights than yellow except France. From 1936 to 1993, the law requires vehicles to have yellow headlights. At present, both yellow and white headlights are allowed in many countries around the world.
The popularity of yellow lights has fallen out, but some car owners still use them to improve visibility in foggy or wet conditions. Yellow lights are hard to visualize in clear conditions, and because of this, yellow lights are only used as fog lights.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Yellow Fog Lights
Many car owners use yellow fog lights because of the following advantages:
Friendly on Human Eye
When driving, the light must uphold your sight. Your eyes will accommodate the yellow light when focusing on the road and the oncoming vehicles. You can see directly on yellow light without straining. It is also helpful for depth perception, which helps you drive in an environment new to you.
Cut Well Through Different Environmental Conditions
In some countries, drivers need to deal with fog, dust, rain, and snow. The refractions-less quality of the yellow fog lights can boosts visibility in this area. You can benefit a lot from the versatility of this light as you can easily switch from white lights to yellow whenever you want. Yellow lights can also enhance the beauty of your vehicle.
One of the main disadvantages of yellow fog lights is that it is not bright enough in some situations. It is pretty evident if you use a yellow fog light tint, as it reduces light intensity.
What You Need to Know About White Lights
White lights have overthrown yellow lights for being the most popular headlight color today. In some countries, yellow headlights are not allowed, which makes white lights the only option. European regulations, for instance, require new vehicles to be manufactured with white headlights.
Many drivers prefer it because it imitates the appearance of sunlight and improves visibility. Yellow lights use filters to create selective yellow light, thus reduces the brightness of headlights. White lights are unfiltered, which makes it brighter.
With the latest technology in headlights, some bulbs move towards the blue end of the spectrum. The xenon HIDs, which usually are brighter than the traditional halogen bulbs, have a blue tint. This is okay, but to a certain point. However, headlights that are too blue are not that effective.
When buying white headlight bulbs, focus on the color temperature. If you want the brightest and the whitest, choose bulbs with a Kelvin rating of about 5000K for Xenon HID or 4000K for halogen bulbs.
Advantages and Disadvantages of White Fog Lights
Just like yellow fog lights, white fog lights have their advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages of white fog lights are as follows:
Enhances the Appearance of Your Vehicle
The white fog lights are one of the best car accessories you can have to enhance your vehicle’s look. Although the yellow lights can also improve the car’s aesthetics, many car owners appreciate the simplicity the white lights can provide.
Versatile
White lights are quite versatile. You can use it as a standard car light, and at the same time, it can be very bright, providing enough illumination in dark areas.
The primary disadvantage of white fog lights is that it is too bright, making it not suitable for the human eye. The brightness can strain the driver’s vision. The risk of refraction is also possible because of the short wavelength that increases the possibility of glares.
Another disadvantage is that it can illuminate for a certain distance only.
Differentiating Yellow from White Fog Lights
We have stated above some of the vital facts about these two lights. By differentiating one from the other, you can easily decide which is the right color of fog lights for your vehicle. The main difference lies in their colors. Obviously, it was indicated in their names.
The color difference is due to their temperatures. Check the light temperature chart to understand how the two fog lights contrast. The yellow light can have 2000 or 3000 Kelvins, while white is on 5000 to 6000 Kelvin and uses HID or LED lights most of the time. Thus it is pretty intense.
The brightness is another good comparison, where the white light is brighter than the yellow light, which makes white light less human-eye-friendly. On the other hand, yellow fog lights are safe for the human eye.
When it comes to using it while driving, the yellow lights are preferable because of their longer wavelength, which means they can brighten your way ahead for longer distances. Yellow lights do not produce glare and do not refract, unlike white fog lights.
Final Thoughts
When driving in foggy conditions and for night driving, the car lighting system is essential. The lights can provide the drivers better visibility and help you drive safely on the road night and day.
The fog lights are one of the modern lights available in the market today. These are the small lights underneath the headlights. As the name implies, they are very helpful in foggy conditions, enabling the driver to see the road clearly through the cloud.
The question is which is the best, the yellow or the white fog lights. Of course, you want the one safe for your eyes that does not refract back to you, and that is yellow fog lights.
However, some countries do not allow the use of yellow fog lights, so you don’t have any other choice but to use white fog lights. If you want to share your thoughts, or have some questions, you can contact us through the comment box below. We would be happy to hear from you and answer all of your questions.
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